TAMPA - The hardest thing to do in sports, according to University of Tampa coach Joe Urso, is stay at the top. Win a championship, then earn your way back and do it again.

That's why Urso began this season by forbidding any of his veteran players to discuss last year's national championship. It was an idea he stole from one of his coaching role models, the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick.

What has always been a trademark of Roos' coaching style is his emphasis on defence. It's a simple philosophy and it applies to midfielders and forwards as much as backmen.

Roos has drawn on other sports and employed successful concepts into his game plan. In terms of defence, he draws on the example of three-time Super Bowl winners the New England Patriots and the Detroit Pistons, when they won consecutive NBA titles in 1989-90.

"I think in world sport, often the most successful teams control their opposition by priding themselves on having the best defence,'' Roos said.